12 November 2010

"Monetary policy therefore always serves, even if it serves badly, the perceived needs of the rulers of the state. If it also happens to enhance the prosperity and progress of the masses of the people, that is a secondary benefit; but its first aim is to serve the needs of the rulers, not the ruled. And this point is central, I believe, to an understanding of the course of monetary policy in the late Roman Empire."

The situation in which we currently find ourselves is very similar to what led to the American Revolution against King George III of England.

#1 As a result of the Seven Years War with France, King George III of England was deeply in debt to the central bankers of England.

#2 In an attempt to raise revenue, King George tried to heavily tax the colonies inAmerica.

#3 In 1763, Benjamin Franklin was asked by the Bank of England why the colonies were so prosperous, and this was his response....

"That is simple. In the colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Script. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers.In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one."

#4 The Currency Act of 1764 ordered the American Colonists to stop printing their own money. Colonial script (the money the colonists were using at the time) was to be exchanged at a two-to-one ratio for "notes" from the Bank of England.

#5 Later, in his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin explained the impact that this currency change had on the colonies....

"In one year, the conditions were so reversed that the era of prosperity ended, and a depression set in, to such an extent that the streets of the Colonies were filled with unemployed."

#6 In fact, Benjamin Franklin stated unequivocally in his autobiography that the power to issue currency was the primary reason for the Revolutionary War....

"The colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters had it not been that England took away from the colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction. The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the prime reason for the Revolutionary War."

#7 Gouverneur Morris, one of the authors of the U.S. Constitution, solemnly warned us in 1787 that we must not allow the bankers to enslave us....

"The rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did. They always will... They will have the same effect here as elsewhere, if we do not, by (the power of) government, keep them in their proper spheres."

The parallels to our current situation are clear:

Various progressive Republican and Democratic administrations have expanded the Welfare-Warfare state since the time of Lincoln and Clay's "Internal Improvements" at the point of a bayonet.

The State has burgeoned since then, growing at a gathering pace over the past 100 years until it is a Leviathan, destructive of the prosperity and liberty of the productive majority of the nation.

The State has grown fat on taxes, then increasing debt, then on currency debasement.

The boom bust cycle of business that is created by the market interventions of the Federal Reserve has led to increasing unemployment, decreasing value of what we call our "money", and inevitable voter discontent.

So we all know we are pissed off.

Constitutionalists are pissed off about how individual liberty has been lost, and the constitution ignored by those who swore an oath to preserve protect and defend.

The progressives and overt Marxists are pissed off because they were all charged up about their "mandate" in '08, and are bitterly disappointed by any moderation by Obama on the one hand, and the rejection of their agenda by the electorate earlier this month.

Anyone on welfare in this country is scared to death that the gravy train is over.

Left, right, or independent, everyone is scared to death about the state of the economy. Unemployment and underemployment is very high, and we all know that any positive monthly announcements by the government about jobs created or manufacturer's orders or inventory moves or the like is just so much window dressing.

My question is: What event is going to set off the powderkeg? Will we creep along in doldrums for years, or are we going to take to protests like in London, France, or Greece? Do we have to wait until we have nothing left to lose?

11 November 2010

And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat. Or what about the Black Maria sitting out there on the street with one lonely chauffeur--what if it had been driven off or its tires spikes?

The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If...if... We didn't love freedom enough...

10 November 2010

Two great articles about what the moves of the Federal Reserve will mean for you and your family.

One is written by Gonzalo Lira, entitled "The Boiling Frog: The effects of QE2 on the bottom 80% of the US population." Here is a sample:

"The first claim I would venture to make—and one that I don’t think will be particularly controversial—is this: Any household spending more than two-thirds of their after-tax income on food, housing, clothing and transportation will suffer an immediate, negative impact from the Fed’s efforts at induced inflation.

That covers pretty much the bottom three quintiles of American households. So 60% of the U.S. population will suffer an immediate effect of rising prices—the stated policy goal of Ben Bernanke’s QE2."

The second article is a guest post on zerohedge.com by Simon Black, writing about all the little things businesses are doing to decrease value of a product in order to save money, but not yet raising prices. He calls this "value deflation". This means you get less for the same money.

Any way you see it, we make the same or less money at work, and the money will go less and less far.

If you get a chance, thank Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors yourself.

On November 10, 1865 Captain Henry Wirz, CSA, guarded by four companies of soldiers, was led to the gallows in the Old Capital Prison yard before some 250 spectators who had government issued tickets. The spectators chanted "remember Andersonville" as Wirz ascended the stairway of the gallows. A hood was placed over Wirz's head and the rope around his neck. Wirz last words reportedly were that he was being hanged for following orders. The trap door was sprung open at 10:32 a.m. stretching the rope as it suddenly bore Wirz's weight. Wirz's neck was not broken by the fall and he writhed about as he slowly died of stangulation. The crowd openly displayed satisfaction that Wirz was dead. The public had been made aware of the deaths caused by autrocious conditions at Andersonville; the press had printed photographs of the worst of the surviving prisoners; those prisoners who had survived despised Wirz; the public had cried out for vengeance and all had waited through a trial lasting sixty-three days for retribution to be had. Forgiveness was not possible as reflected by Walt Whitman regarding Andersonville when he wrote, " There are deeds, crimes that may be forgiven but this is not among them. It steeps its perpetrators in blackest, escapless, endless damnation."

The crowd chanted while he slowly strangled.

By far the most damaging testimony against Wirz was that of Felix de la Baume. De la Baume was the only witness who identified a victim by name who was alleged to have been directly killed by Wirz. De la Baume, who claimed to be a Frenchman and descendant of Lafayette, was discovered after the trial, to actually be Felix Oeser. Oeser was born in Saxony, Prussia and lied in order to help conceal that he was a former member of the 7th New York Volunteers who had deserted during the war. He was a skilled orator and so impressed the commission that he was given a written commendation signed by all of the members regarding his testimony. He was also appointed to a position in the Department of the Interior before Wirz's trial ended. Once his true identify and status was discovered, only eleven days after Wirz had been hung, he admitted being Oeser and to having perjured himself in the testimony at Wirz's trial. Oeser subequently vanished into obscurity.

Union Army Lt. James Madison:
(During the Summer of 1864)

" July brought unusual suffering to the prisoners on account of the hot weather."

The suffering caused the initiation of a petition by the prisoners for reinstatement of prisoner exchanges. Four were paroled to go to Washington and three returned to report their request had been refused.

(Following the return of the paroled emissaries to Washington).

"When we heard [Secretary of War] Stanton's reply in regard to exchange [reinstatement], we felt we were forsaken by our Government. The War Office at Washington preferred us to die rather than exchange us." "Many of the prisoners, being but human, raised their clenched, trembling hands towards heaven and with fearful oaths cursed the authorities at Washington, and the day they were born. Oh what hatred was engendered for our Secretary of War."

(On meeting Henry Wirz).

"I met Wirz while on one of his visits to the hospital. He stopped his horse, and I explained briefly the situation and the condition of my comrades. Said I, 'If something is not done for them at once, in a few days death will be the result,' and this is the substance of his reply: 'I am doing all I can. I am handicapped and pressed for rations. I am exceeding my authority now in issuing supplies. I am blamed by the soldiers for all this suffering. They do not realize I am a subordinate, governed by orders of my commanding officer. Why, sir, my own men are on short rations. The best that I can do is to see that your sick comrades are removed to the hospital. God help you, I cannot.,' and his eyes were filled with tears. I was crying myself. I saw how deeply he felt. He was pale and emaciated. His wounded arm was troubling him - he said nothing about the fact that gangrene had set in. I said to myself, 'Here is a man obliged to endure the odium resulting from the sins of others.'"

(While Wirz was on sick leave during the month of August).

"Scurvy is now fearfully prevalent. Hundreds are dying daily. It is caused by not having proper food - a change of food is absolutely necessary to relieve scurvy.
Captain Wirz was absent on sick leave for the month of August. Lieutenant Davis was in command and he did all that he could to alleviate the suffering. From all sides could be heard from men who had said derogatory things of Wirz, 'I wish the Captain was back.'"

---These excerpts are taken from a law school website which published original source material. A heartfelt letter from Capt. Wirz's defense lawyer written after the execution is here, if you wish to read further.

I am convinced that Wirz was scapegoated, and used as a pawn to try to implicate President Jefferson Davis as a Lincoln assassination conspirator.

Poor Wirz! What a wretched fate! What happened to him could have, and probably would have happened to anyone assigned at that post.

The federal government should be held to blame for their part in refusing prisoner exchange while at the same time enacting the scorched earth policy that afflicted the Georgia countryside. Both of those issues contributed needlessly to the death and suffering at Andersonville. In addition, the trial was full of perjury and unsubstantiated claims. Walt Whitman should have thought about the Federal authorities in charge of this Travesty when he wrote:

" There are deeds, crimes that may be forgiven but this is not among them. It steeps its perpetrators in blackest, escapless, endless damnation."

09 November 2010

November 8, 2010

When I traveled to Krakow, Poland a couple of weeks ago to attend an economics conference sponsored by Polish libertarians, the young man who picked me up at the airport had a Confederate flag magnet on the dashboard of his car. He told me that he got it when visiting Richmond, Virginia, where he also purchased a Confederate flag.

Politically-Correct Interpretation: Obviously, this young libertarian, whose parents were slaves of socialism, is a racist who reveres nineteenth-century American slave owners and would probably like to introduce slavery to Poland.

More Realistic Interpretation: This young Polish libertarian, who has not been brainwashed by American government schools, and who has never attended a Claremont Institute seminar, naturally thought of the Confederate flag as a symbol of opposition to a hated centralized governmental tyranny.

I don't know how many of you have visited New York City, or spent any length of time there (so as to get to know the culture and attitudes of those born and raised there), but New York isn't America.

Southern culture is the true heart of what most people (Americans and foreigners) consider "America", whether or not they realize it. Question to anyone who has served (or currently is serving) in the melting pot of the US military: Do you agree or disagree? Feel free to comment.

I know New York City very well, unfortunately. The City and the people who were born and continue to live within commuting distance of Manhattan have always felt foreign to me. I am referring to native born New Yorkers, not the immigrant population. Manhattan is comprised of a very rich elite who are (collectively) liberal to a fault, and a mass of much poorer people who live on the handouts of Big Government (I generalize, of course).

You have to go about 90 to 120 minutes up the Hudson River or out Long Island or West and South into eastern Pennsylvania or New Jersey before you start to meet people that you recognize as more culturally "American".

Take it from someone who knows personally: New York is the heart, the black heart, of Yankee Land. It houses the corporate wing and finances the power in DC. New York City is the spawn of Hamilton, twisted in later days by various socialist Democrat and RINO administrations; it is the Repudiation to Jefferson and original intent of the Constitution.

First off he's a whiney Republican in name only.
Second, he's rabidly anti 2nd amendment.
Third, after running for his first term supporting term limits, he approved the city council increasing term limits from two terms of four years each to three terms of four years.

Now he comes out with this brilliant complement to the incoming congressional freshmen:

On second thought, he'd be a perfect president for the upcoming peoples republic of New England after the coming breakup of the overstreched and bankrupt US empire.

About Me

Father of three, religious, distrustful of any authority not able to consistently demonstrate competency at its mandated task. Lineally descended physically and spiritually from colonial leadership, Revolutionary War veterans, and veterans of the War of Northern Aggression.